Pella Regional Health Center discusses surgery equipment
The latest in robotic surgery is now at Pella Regional Health Center. Dr. Bob Leonard explained that the hospital has been using robotic technology for several years and has allowed advancements in different surgeries. Now these surgeries are routine and the hospital is now enhancing its robotic technologies. (KNIA)

Mom brings CuddleCots to Cedar Valley in memory of her babyThere’s now a new resource at Allen Hospital. It’s helping families who go through a stillbirth. This gift is in memory of a little boy, gone too soon. Cedar Valley mom Danielle Franck lost of son Tanner, when he was sadly stillborn two years ago. Now, Tanner’s memory lives on through CuddleCots. These are little bassinets that keep a baby’s body cool, giving parents more time to say goodbye. Allen Hospital has had a CuddleCot for a few weeks, and Covenant Medical Center just got one. (KWWL)

National News

340B drug program ceiling price, penalties start January 1After years of delay, the US Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule Thursday that will impose a ceiling price to limit how much drug manufacturers can charge hospitals participating in the 340B drug discount program for their products, as well as civil monetary penalties for manufacturers charging above the ceiling. While hospital groups and advocates have lauded the decision, the American Hospital Association continues to push HHS to do more.” (Healthcare Dive)

Verma lambastes ACA, giving states 4 ways to bypass itCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma strongly criticized the Affordable Care Act in a speech Thursday and invited states to sidestep provisions of the Obama-era law in four ways, outlining a policy path forward that critics worry could undermine the ACA’s central protections. Some have questioned the legality of the administration’s revised guidance, based on the fact that it avoided formal notice-and-comment rulemaking. (HealthLeaders Media)

Polio cases no longer declining; WHO fears global resurgenceProgress has stalled in ridding the world of polio. An emergency committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) unanimously agreed Friday to continue to designate the paralyzing disease a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” WHO originally designated polio in this way in 2014, deeming it a health threat serious enough to endanger communities worldwide. This year, WHO has recorded 27 cases of wild poliovirus worldwide, compared with 22 total cases last year. (CNN)

Changes in brain scans seen after a single season of football for young players
A single season playing football might be all it takes to change a young athlete’s brain. Those are the preliminary findings of research presented this week in Chicago at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. The team says these results suggest that repeated blows to the head could lead to changes in the shape of the corpus callosum, which is critical to integrating cognitive, motor and sensory functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, during a critical time for brain development in young people. (NPR)